Madras HC proposes qualifying criteria for contesting Bar Council Elections

Justice N Kirubakaran of the Madras High Court has proposed a series of preconditions to be satisfied before prospective candidates are accepted for contesting Bar Council elections..Inter alia, the Court has recommended that the authorities reject those candidates with serious and pending criminal cases against them, those who fail to meet the educational standards under the Legal Education Rules, 2008, and those with political affiliations..The order adds to a host of recommendations that the Court has been issuing since last October, ever since it took up the issue of declining standards of the legal profession in public interest..The main matter concerning the closure of a medical college has now reached the Supreme Court. However, the Madras High Court has kept the case pending before it to follow up on the measures it had kick-started with a view to improving standards in legal education and in the legal profession..In this order, the Court has proposed that the following considerations also factor in at the time of accepting candidates for Bar Council elections:.Verification of Credentials.When the matter came up for hearing last Friday, the Court agreed with suggestions made that the following credentials be filed by prospective candidates before the Bar Council:.Declaration of assets possessed by the contesting candidates and their family members, about 10 years ago and as on date;Disclosure of income earned by the aspiring candidates from their profession as well as other sources, for the past 10 years and also, as on date;Disclosure of pending criminal cases;The number of cases in which they appeared and conducted by filing vakalath, during their tenure of practice, by filing judgments in proof thereof;The number of cases pending against them i.e, criminal, civil , as well as proceedings before the Bar Council of India and the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry;The post held in any political party in the past and the present..Referring to the case of P Ramu v The Secretary, Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and others, wherein similar verification measures were proposed for the enrollment of law graduates, Justice Kirubakaran suggested that,.“…the Ration card, Pan card and Aadhar card of the candidates have to be verified to ascertain their address, social status and their income at the time of nomination.”.Bar on candidates with serious, pending criminal cases.In addition, the Court opined that candidates with pending criminal cases against them should also not be allowed to contest, given that it may adversely affect the disposal of such cases..“…candidates involved in the criminal cases, where chargesheet is filed and the punishment for the offences of which is more than 3 years should not be permitted to contest in the election, as in the case of election of those candidates facing such serious criminal cases may be detrimental to the disposal of the criminal cases pending against them in a free and fair manner.”.In this context, reference was also made to the case of SM Anantha Murugan v The Chairman, Bar Council of India, New Delhi wherein it was held that law graduates with serious criminal antecedents should not be allowed to enroll themselves with the Bar..Avoid making the Bar Council a playground for political ambitions.The Court also held that it would be advisable that no advocate who held or is holding a key post in a political party or who is or was an elected member of the legislative assembly or parliament should be allowed to contest in the Bar Council elections in the interest of avoiding political interference in the legal profession. The Court opined that it would do well to avoid making the Bar Council a playground to achieve their political ambitions..Candidates should satisfy criteria in BCI’s Legal Education Rules, 2008.The Court emphasised that only those who have rightfully obtained requisite law degrees must be allowed to enroll..Similarly, the Court opined that ideally, the candidates standing for Bar Council elections have to satisfy the educational standards laid down in the Legal Education Rules, 2008, particularly Rule 5. The Court suggested that,.“In case their law degree is not a regular law degree or obtained without satisfying the rules regarding their basic qualifications, their candidature have to be rejected.”.With regard to fixing general minimum standards for contesting Bar Council elections, Justice Kirubakaran also makes reference to the case of SM Anantha, wherein it was held as follows:.“Bar Council of India shall not conduct the next Bar Council Election, after expiry of the present term in 2016, without prescribing minimum qualification like 20 years standing in the Bar or a Senior Counsel, who does not have any Criminal Case or Criminal background for the Candidates to contest Bar Council Elections and till the verification of Advocates is done as per “Bar Council of India Certificate and Place of Practice (Verification) Rules, 2015″ by entrusting the functions to an expert body.”.The Court has directed that all these suggestions be placed by the BCI before the Committee appointed by the Supreme Court to look into these matters, namely, the Justice Anil R Dave Committee,.“…so that the Committee would be in a position to give a comprehensive direction to all the Bar Councils making it necessary for the candidates to disclose these details at the time of filing nominations itself.”.The matter has been listed for hearing on Wednesday, December 13.